Lightly butter the bottom and sides of a 9-inch springform pan. Line the bottom with parchment paper and butter the paper. *Dust the pan with some cocoa until the whole pan is covered in cocoa. Set aside.

In the top of a double boiler, melt the chocolate and butter over medium-low heat. *It is okay to put in more chocolate if you think the mixture looks a little liquidy- it should be a little thicker than watery. *Remove from the heat and whisk in the cocoa, chili powder, cinnamon, cayenne, and salt.

In a bowl, whisk together the egg yolks with 1/2 cup of the sugar until thick and pale yellow in color. Fold the chocolate mixture into the yolks and mix well.

In another bowl, whisk the egg whites *with an electric beater* until thick. Whisking, add the remaining 1/2 cup sugar gradually and continue to beat to form a light meringue. In several additions, fold into the chocolate mixture, being careful not to deflate the meringue. *This will take some time- make sure ALL of the meringue is incorporated- the color should be more or less uniform. (If you’re like me and there’s still some darker chocolate mix on the bottom that did not have meringue folded in, you can still fold it in in the pan after you pour it out.) Gently pour into the prepared pan and bake until the edges are set but the center is still moist and a few crumbs stick to a tester, about 45 minutes *(folks have recommended 35 or 40 minutes- you don’t want this cake to dry out too much!).

Remove from the oven and *run a knife around the edge of the cake while it is still warm. Cool completely in the pan on a wire rack. Serve with whipped cream. (I didn’t do the cake-inversion- just pulled it out of the springform pan when it was cooled.)

For Whipped Cream:

1 cup heavy cream (Maple View Farm)

2 tablespoons maple syrup

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Pinch ground cinnamon

Using an electric beater, whip heavy cream until stiff. Add maple syrup, vanilla, and cinnamon and continue beating until the cream is relatively solid (i.e. holds itself up and is not runny).